It’s not known what Frédéric Seppey will say, but his address comes amidst an escalating trade war that has the sector nervous.

The tariff tangle with the United States is expected to overshadow this week’s ministerial meeting as farm country continues to worry about its competitiveness following American Secretary Sonny Perdue’s promise of support for American farmers. Perdue is expected to release his program in September.

On Wednesday, federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay would not say whether he was in favour of a short-term ‘ad hoc’ program or other additional support for the industry on this side of the border.

“Over the next couple of days I expect that discussion will be had and I think it would be kind of inappropriate for me to indicate what we will do in the next two days before that,” he told reporters following a roundtable meeting with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA).

The CFA, which represents about 200,000 Canadian farm families across the country, has said ministers need to talk about developing a contingency plan for the sector in light of the ongoing trade volatility.

However, at least one province has said it is not interested in funding that for the industry.

Last Friday, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart told iPolitics if the federal government decides to develop an ad hoc program for the sector, it should expect to pay for it.

He said the agriculture industry is simply too big in Saskatchewan and the province could not afford it, adding there are several programs already available to producers who are looking to mitigate their risk.

Stewart was expected to attend this week’s ministerial meeting in Vancouver, but was forced to cancel his trip at the last minute because of personal appointments, his office said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Canadian farm groups have been pressuring the federal government to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement as quickly as possible given the ongoing uncertainty south of the border.

On Thursday, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to recall the House of Commons from its summer recess so the deal could be passed expeditiously – just hours after Singapore announced it had become the third country to ratify the trade agreement.

The trade deal formally comes into force 60 days after six of the 11 member countries have ratified the deal.

Seppey has said Canada would like to be one of those first six.

“We expect that the ratification by the 11 remaining countries will proceed quickly afterwards,” he told attendees at the CFA’s annual meeting in early March.

“In the case of Canada, subject to the will of the Parliament, there may be the opportunity to complete the ratification process as quickly as possible by the end of 2019.”